I can see that WotC may not want to actually proceed to judgement.
But my feeling is that they can make life more painful for a defendant if the matter is being argued on the terrain of copyright (complex, very uncertain) compared to contract (comparatively straightforward).
Absolutely, yes.
On whether they'd proceed to judgement. Anecdotally, until very recently my impression of WoTC-Hasbro and their in-house law department over the past 20 years or so was that unlike Games Workshop they were not arrogant and stupid. When I saw them take legal action, it was on well founded claims. This seemed to be part of a general 'good guy' persona that helped foster the D&D community, to their great benefit. Things have clearly changed. They appear to have put on the black hat. Does 'going evil' mean they will now combine GW's malevolence with GW's arrogance and stupidity? Or will they be evil-but-clever? It seems too early to tell.